PHOENIX - Entering the postseason there was little doubt to most that the Millennium Tigers were the team to beat in the Open Division bracket.

After two convincing victories of 18 and 33 points over Higley and American Leadership Academy Gilbert North respectively, Friday night’s showdown against the Sunnyslope Vikings was something different.

It felt like championship caliber fight taking place in the quarterfinals due to a questionable seed for a Millennium team undefeated against Arizona. 

The 56-50 thriller played out that way. And the Tigers are still undefeated against Arizona.

“We use the outside noise as motivation, our guys are hungry and we feel we played a tough enough schedule against national teams to get ready for games like this,” said Tiger head coach Ty Amundsen.

Through the first quarter, it looked as if the sixth seeded Tigers were poised to add another dominating victory. They jumped out to a 25-8 lead behind a balanced scoring attack led by sophomore Cameron Holmes and senior Sabien Cain all while junior star Kingston Tosi picked up three fouls early in the contest.

A Sunnyslope team full of players that played in last year's Open Division final kept chipping away. Millennium led 46-34 after three, but the Vikings made it a one-possession game with 15 seconds remaining.

Senior guard Sabien Cain took the foul and made both free throws to put the game away.

For this Millennium team mostly full of same players that lost in last year's 5A state championship game, this victory is just another step in the process of avenging that painful defeat. 

“Last year when we lost in the 5A state championship, it meant a lot to us, we entered this year and we got stronger and we have to stay focused, we’re in the Final Four now,” said Holmes.

The Tigers move on the semifinals and will face off in a rematch against the #2 seed Notre Dame Prep Saints at 5 p.m. Feb. 28 at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale.

The Tigers defeated the Saints 83-63 in Scottsdale Feb. 2.

With Tosi forced to sit the remaining 9:24 of the first half Friday, the supporting cast of the Tigers were forced to step up into big roles.

First, off the bench came sophomore Tristen Rhodes who initially replaced Tosi and contributed six points in the first half on two three point attempts from the wing. Then came senior Sam Franklin who brought length to disrupt the guard play of the Vikings. 

“It’s next man up all of the time, JT (Amundsen), Tristen (Rhodes), Sam (Franklin), Quincy (Everson). We have a tough group that has been together for a long time and when it gets into these tough situations, they know how to handle them,” said Amundsen.

The two most crucial players however in the non-Tosi minutes and throughout the game were Everson and Holmes.

Everson’s defense throughout the game was crucial to the success of the Tigers as opposing players shot 2/9 when guarded by him throughout the game and his eight rebounds led the team.

“Quincy doesn’t get talked about enough, eight rebounds and his defense in the second half, he was big for us,” said Amundsen.

His defense helped put the game on ice as with under a minute left, the Vikings who had trailed all game long were only down by three and in position to potentially tie the game. Everson was able to disrupt a three-point attempt that would be rebounded by Holmes and sealed a Tiger victory.

Holmes being the one to rebound the attempt was a fitting moment for the best player on the court on the night.

From the start of the game, Holmes imposed his will offensively against the Vikings. On the opening possession he spotted up for a three point attempt that found nothing but the bottom of the net and he would proceed to drive into the paint for two tough layups over Sunnyslope defenders in transition and knocked down a buzzer beating three point attempt with a defender in his face to finish the quarter with ten tough points.

“We saw that they had the two bigs in, before the game coach Ty told us we had to keep attacking them and so that was our game plan to attack them and get them in transition,” said Holmes.

That game plan continued to pay dividends for Holmes in the second quarter as he added six more points to his total that included another layup at the rim that went in the basket just as time expired. Millennium led 33-21 at halftime as Holes scored 16 of his 21 total points in the game. 

However, the second half was Tosi’s time to take over after being forced to sit on the bench in foul trouble. Right away, he continued to impact the game with his length as he blocked the first Viking shot attempt of the half setting up a quick Tiger bucket in transition. 

The fourth quarter was where his difference was felt, the junior had nine of his eleven total points come in the period all come in layups over taller defenders and a dunk that punctuated a victory the Tigers desperately coveted.